Father of mine
by Davey-Malucci
Summary: Dave's father returns in a way Dave never expected! *loose sequel to "Hot chocolate..."*


Father of mine  
  
"Morning Luka" Carter greeted as the Croatian attending approached the admit desk.  
  
"Good morning Doctor Carter" Luka replied as Dave Malucci slammed a pile of charts down on the desk. Carter couldn't help but smirk. "What's so funny"? Dave demanded.  
  
"I just never thought I'd see you with paperwork" Carter grinned.  
  
"Oh ha ha Carter, why don't you go get Gamma to buy you a new boat or something" Dave grumbled as he wandered over to curtain three to treat his latest patient. Carter's eyes narrowed, he hated digs at his fortune, especially ones that came from Dave. "What's with him"? Abby asked.  
  
"There's always something wrong with him" Carter spat. Luka looked down at the chart he was holding. He didn't want to relay to Carter and Abby what Dave had told him on the rooftop, but he also didn't like people badmouthing Dave without knowing the facts. "Just leave him alone Carter" He suggested calmly.  
  
"Don't just stand around talking! There's patients to see"! Kerry Weaver ordered, limping up to the desk. She was in another one of her famous bad moods. Carter, Luka and Abby quickly scattered not wanting to feel the sharp end of Kerry's tongue.  
  
*~*  
  
"So Matthew, how long have you had this pain"? Dave asked in a bored voice.  
  
"About three days" Matthew replied, raising his hand to his head. His headache was getting worse. Dave sighed deeply, he hardly ever got the exciting cases. All he'd had on this shift was headaches and one unfortunate guy who had caught a certain part of his body kicked very hard by a disgruntled lover. "MVA"! Dave heard someone call. He immediately forgot about his headache patient, this sounded interesting. "I'll be right back, I think I might be needed for this one" Dave said turning away from Matthew and dashing towards the trauma rooms. "Hey Chief let me take this one" He asked as Kerry and Luka wheeled the patient into Trauma Three. "We've got it Malucci" Kerry replied.  
  
"C'mon Chief, I've got nothing else major on" Dave pleaded.  
  
"Fine, fine, just don't stand around and help out"! Kerry ordered. Dave didn't need telling twice, as the paramedic read off the vitals, Dave helped Luka transfer the patient onto a gurney. "Forty year old white male, according to witnesses was just crossing the road when he was hit by a truck" The paramedic said quickly.  
  
"Malucci! Intubate"! Kerry yelled.  
  
"I'm on it Chief" Dave replied, grabbing an intubation kit. Dave raced around to the patient's head and prepared to intubate. As Dave caught sight of the patient's face, he let out a small gasp. "Oh God.."  
  
"Dave what's wrong"? Luka asked, concerned.  
  
"We didn't get his name" The paramedic was telling Kerry.  
  
"I can tell you his name" Dave muttered "It's Joseph...Joseph Malucci"  
  
"You're related to this guy"? Luka said needlessly.  
  
"He's my father" Dave whispered. He felt a horrible sick feeling in his stomach. He was looking at the man he hadn't seen for ten years. The face of his tormenter. "Malucci"! Kerry yelled. Dave didn't reply, he was still staring intently at the man's face.  
  
"Dave step out" Luka ordered. Dave snapped back into reality.  
  
"No, it's ok I can do this" He replied, the doctor side of him going into overdrive.  
  
"No Dave, step out" Luka insisted.  
  
"Fine"! Dave shouted, throwing down the intubation kit he'd been holding. He turned on his heel and stormed out of the trauma room. "What the hell is going on here"? Kerry asked angrily.  
  
"It's his father Kerry" Luka replied. "Just trust me, it's better for Dave not to see him right now".  
  
*~*  
  
"Hey Dave". Abby greeted as she wandered into the lounge. Dave was laying on the sofa, his arm over his eyes. "Abby" He muttered by way of reply.  
  
"I don't think Carter's too pleased with you right now"  
  
"Do I look as if I give a damn"? Dave asked, not removing his arm from his eyes.  
  
"I was just saying.." Dave withdrew his arm and sat up. "Well don't just say Abby.I know what people think of me here, do you think I care? I have slightly more important things to concern myself with than what a bunch of doctors and nurses think about me"  
  
"Whatever you say Dave" Abby replied in a monotone voice, she grabbed her cup of coffee and left the lounge, slamming the door as she went. Dave moaned, he couldn't believe how bad this day was turning out to be.  
  
*~*  
  
"You paged me for this"? Robert Romano asked in disgust as he entered Trauma Three. Kerry and Luka had been working on Joseph for just over and hour and had managed to get him stable enough for a surgical consult. "Robert no-one else was available" Kerry said in an exhausted voice, already tired of Romano's bullish attitude. "Well then, let's get this over and done with and quickly as possible" Romano replied.  
  
"Luka what was the name again"? Kerry asked, picking up the chart.  
  
"Joseph Malucci" Luka replied quietly.  
  
"Malatucci? As in that jerk from down here"? Romano questioned.  
  
"Yes and No" Luka replied.  
  
"Meaning"? Romano demanded.  
  
"Yes it's Malucci's father, no he's not a jerk"  
  
"Don't get smart with me" Romano warned.  
  
"Perish the thought" Luka said sarcastically. He was fighting to keep his legendary anger under control, he didn't want to jeopardise his job for punching this jerk's lights out.  
  
*~*  
  
"Stupid jerk" Abby muttered as she sorted through the charts at the admit desk.  
  
"What's wrong"? Luka asked as he approached her. Abby looked up at the gentle Croatian's concerned face. "It's Malucci" She replied. "He acted like a total jerk towards me earlier on in the lounge. I hate him, he thinks he's so damn great, everyone thinks he's just an asshole who can't see far past his own damn nose"  
  
"Maybe you've misjudged him" Luka said defensively.  
  
"Why are you defending him Luka"?  
  
"Because we don't really know him that well enough for you to be making judgements like that, there could be a reason he acts the way he does".  
  
"Yeah it's called an attitude problem" Abby spat.  
  
"You know Abby, I'd have thought that you of all people would be able to understand that people have problems, I'm sorry to say, but when you act this way I just can't talk to you" Luka said calmly. Abby stared after him, slightly shocked. Had Luka just stuck up for Dave?  
  
*~*  
  
Luka quietly entered the lounge, unsure of whether Dave would be sleeping or not. He found the junior resident pretty much as he had done that time on the roof, sitting, staring at nothing in particular. Luka took a seat next to him. "I suppose I should ask how he's doing" Dave muttered, his head in his hands so that Luka couldn't see any facial expressions. "Not if you don't want to know" Luka replied.  
  
"Don't suppose you have any of that hot chocolate"? Dave asked. Luka smiled a little, remembering the hot chocolate he had brought for Dave the last time they had been together like this. "I can see what's in the cupboard" Luka half-asked, half-stated. He rose from the shabby sofa and headed over to the cupboard to look for some cocoa. "How is he"? Dave questioned suddenly, he looked up at the Croatian Attending who was busying himself making the hot chocolate. "He's stable, he should pull through" Luka replied.  
  
"That's good I guess" Dave whispered. He didn't trust his voice to hold out any longer.  
  
"Depends on how you look at it" Luka said, handing Dave his drink.  
  
"What do you mean"?  
  
"Well there's two ways of looking at things in life Dave. You can look at everything from a pessimistic point of view, or you can look at it from an optimisic point of view. If you're going to look at this situation pessimistically then it's a bad thing that your father survived the crash because he's still around. Whereas if you want to see the good in this, well, your father has been given a second chance, perhaps a chance to make things right, or at least attempt to". Luka explained.  
  
"I see where you're coming from there, but how the hell did you see the good in what happened to you"? Dave asked, sipping his drink.  
  
"It was tough at first, I kept thinking, why has this happened to me? Who could've possibly had it in for me that badly that they wanted to take my whole life away from me like that? It was hard seeing the good in it. Then I realised, what had happened to my family had given me my calling in life. It made me realise that I wanted to help people, become a doctor to make sure that I could help people in the same situation as me, who were losing people close to them. I thought if I could be given the opportunity to save lives, so that people wouldn't have to go through what I went through then It could somehow do my family proud" Luka smiled. "Plus if it hadn't have happened I'd have never met you" He added.  
  
"Well that's certainly a bonus" Dave smirked. "I just want you to know Luka.I really admire you. You've been dealt some shitty cards in your time but you always manage to come out fighting"  
  
"As do you Dave" Luka replied.  
  
"Thanks for the drink"  
  
"Anytime my friend, anytime"  
  
*~*  
  
Kerry Weaver sighed as she began to write up Joseph Malucci's chart. She hadn't seen Dave since Luka had told him to step out of the trauma room. As much as she disliked the arrogant junior resident, she knew he was suffering. Instead of going with her gut reaction of going to find him and yell at him to get back to work, she decided to leave him be. "Doctor Weaver, Malucci's in V-Fib"! Haleh called from Trauma Three. Kerry leapt into action. She motioned to Carter who was standing at the admit desk, looking over some charts. "Carter, give me a hand" Carter nodded and followed her into Trauma Three. "This is Malucci's dad"? Carter asked.  
  
"Start compressions Carter" Kerry ordered. "Haleh, get the paddles"!  
  
"Still in V-fib" Carter replied as he continued his round of compressions.  
  
"Haleh"! Kerry yelled.  
  
"I'm here Doctor Weaver" Haleh replied.  
  
"Charge to 15" Kerry ordered as Carter spread the conductive jelly on Joseph's chest. "Clear!"  
  
"Still in V-fib" Carter repeated.  
  
"Charge to 30"! Kerry replied, preparing to shock again. "Clear"!  
  
"Nothing" Carter said.  
  
"Sats are down to 63" Haleh commented.  
  
"Charge again! Clear"! Kerry continued.  
  
"No" Carter shook his head sadly.  
  
"Again! Clear"!  
  
"Asystole" Haleh replied.  
  
"Come on! Come on! Clear"! Kerry muttered, giving Joseph yet another shock.  
  
"Kerry..we've done everything we can" Carter said softly. Kerry sighed deeply, releasing the paddles, after a few seconds, Joseph's monitor flat- lined. "You want to call it"? Carter asked.  
  
"Time of death 10:16" Kerry replied sadly.  
  
*~*  
  
"The next thing I know.I wake up and my head's halfway down the pan"! Dave said excitedly. Since his talk with Luka, he'd been regaling the admit desk with stories from his student days. "Sounds like you had fun in college" Randi remarked.  
  
"I did, what I can remember of it" Dave smirked. Randi rolled her eyes and went back to her catalogue. "Got any good patients coming in for me"? Dave asked Frank.  
  
"Not a single one" Frank replied between bites of donut.  
  
"Oh my God Frank! What the hell is that"? Dave shouted, pointing behind Frank. Frank immediately wheeled around and Dave took this opportunity to steal a donut from Frank's beloved box. Dave crammed the whole thing into his mouth at once just as Frank turned around. "I wasn't a cop for twenty-six years for nothing you know" Frank said, eyeing Dave with suspicion. "I'm an angel"! Dave replied, spraying bits of donut as he did so.  
  
"I bet" Frank muttered, turning back to his computer. Dave shook his head and turned to the board, hoping to see something remotely promising. He didn't notice Carter solemnly approaching the front desk. "Dave"?  
  
"Woah! Carter.you gave me a scare there"! Dave exclaimed, turning around in shock.  
  
"Dave.it's about your father" Carter replied. Dave's smile immediately fell.  
  
"What about my father"? Dave asked.  
  
"You better come with me"  
  
*~*  
  
Dave sat motionless in the hard plastic chair, he stared at the unmoving form of his father. He had been doing so for a few minutes, just staring, not uttering a word. "We did everything we could" Kerry said gently.  
  
"I know" Dave whispered. He felt a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm sorry Dave" Kerry replied. "Do you want me to.."  
  
"It's ok Chief."  
  
"Dave, I know that it's hard..."  
  
"Just go Chief" Dave muttered. Kerry nodded and removed her hand from Dave's shoulder, quietly she slipped out of the trauma room.  
  
*~*  
  
Dave didn't know how long he'd been sat there, to him, time had stood still ages ago. No-one had bothered him since Kerry had left. He sensed that Kerry had advised the staff to stay away from Trauma Three for the time being. That was the way he wanted it. Dave started at his old oppressor disbelievingly, he couldn't believe that the man he'd spent most of his childhood afraid of, was dead. Luka quietly entered the trauma room. Dave was sitting slumped in the chair by the gurney. Without waiting for an invitation, Luka took another chair and sat next to Dave. "How are you feeling"? He asked gently.  
  
"Confused" Dave muttered sadly.  
  
"Why"?  
  
"Because I don't know what to feel..part of me thinks great, he's dead, he's finally gone and I don't have to worry about him anymore. Then, the other half thinks that no matter what he did, he was still my father and that I love him" Dave's voice cracked on the last words. "I understand, it's ok to grieve Dave, I hope you know that" Luka replied.  
  
"Thanks Luka."  
  
"I'll leave you alone now Dave" Luka said, beginning to stand up.  
  
"Don't" Dave whispered. "I've been alone all my life..please don't leave me..I don't want to be alone" Without him being prepared for it, tears began to roll down Dave's cheeks. Luka took hold of Dave and gently pulled his head towards him. Leaning Dave's head and shoulders against his chest, Luka held the junior resident tightly, not caring that his shirt was getting wet.  
  
As Luka held Dave, all that filled the room was the sound of the rain beating down on the windowpane and Dave's muffled sobs..  
  
THE END 


End file.
